Study and recommend: Statutory reporting requirements as a technique of legislative initiative in congress. A research note.

Congress annually requires executive departments, agencies, and commissions to study existing programs and new problems and to report their findings and legislative recommendations back to Congress. Such "study and recommend" requirements and the reports they produce are growing rapidly, both absolu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Johannes, John.
Format: Villanova Faculty Authorship
Language:English
Published: 1976
Online Access:http://ezproxy.villanova.edu/login?url=https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:177482
Description
Summary:Congress annually requires executive departments, agencies, and commissions to study existing programs and new problems and to report their findings and legislative recommendations back to Congress. Such "study and recommend" requirements and the reports they produce are growing rapidly, both absolutely and relative to other reporting provisions; are motivated by both policy-oriented and symbolic considerations; attract a surprising amount of support from executives; do produce useful information and recommendations; and have resulted in new statutes or administrative changes. In addition, these reporting requirements help to confer legitimacy on policy ideas and to keep issues alive, thus contributing to Congress' institutional ability to serve both as policy initiator and overseer of the bureaucracy.